[center][b][sup][h1]TWILIGHT[/h1][/sup][/b][/center]
[INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]W E I S M A N   S T R E E T   M A L L[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT][sup][color=darkgray]July 3[sup]rd[/sup], 2020  |  3:31p.m.  |  Happy Harbour, Rhode Island[/color][/sup][/INDENT][/INDENT]

[b][i]I hate clowns.[/i][/b]

Though none could see it, the heroine known as Twilight was reaching the end of her patience. When the team had gotten the notice, she had been in the middle of a video-call with her brother Leo and was forced to quickly hang up, suit up, and hurry over to the Weisman Street Mall all on account of a gang of rampaging clowns. Twilight had been around the world, but had mainly operated in Metropolis up to this point, and was therefore unused to the more psychotic breed of criminal that Gotham city was famed for. The fact that a group of makeup-clad Joker groupies had come all the way from their cesspool to wreak havoc and interrupt her leisure time was quite galling. And while Twilight had been impressed with her team's response time and the efficiency in which Tachyus began to evacuate civilians, she was more than a little irritated by the fact that the Jokerz had somehow managed to encircle them. An undisciplined and untrained gang of D-List thugs had somehow managed to surround them and it annoyed her to no end. 

And Twilight was annoyed with herself most of all. She hadn't expected the clowns to have powers, as minor as they were, and she hadn't accounted for their pure savagery. They hadn't come close to breaking her defenses, but they fact they had caught her off-guard was unforgivable. She was better than that. She had to be. And so as Twilight circled up with her teammates, such as they were, the young hero was quite eager to wipe those smug smirks off of the Jokerz' faces. She assessed the situation, quickly evaluating her next move while there was a lull. But Twilight didn't move until it was time, waiting for Conner to make his own move, like how Twilight had been taught to operate since she was a sidekick. Some of the others, like Fenrir, might have been hotheads but she was made of different stuff. She was a professional and she would act like it. 

But being a professional didn't mean Twilight couldn't allow herself to smirk when she saw Conner punch that fat clown through the Kord store window. Normally, she'd be leery of property damage but she somehow didn't mind in this case, and Ted could easily pay for the damage. She'd send him a card or something later on. And Twilight enjoyed watching Conner work. But she couldn't think about that now. It was time to get to work. Fenrir was even quicker to the draw than Twilight, and the young metahuman was both impressed and somewhat unsettled by his power and ferocity as he tore towards Dee and Dee. A big portion of her wanted to intervene and stop Fenrir from going too far. Twilight might not have been as strict with force as other heroes, but she had never killed anyone, and it would definitely be disastrous if a hero ended up eviscerating someone. But it'd also be a potential disaster if Juno diverted her attention and efforts to intervening and let the other clowns run amok. Focus on the fight first, that's what mom would have said. And if two psychos ran out of luck because of it, well it wouldn't be her fault. 

Fenrir probably had the twins covered and Conner had knocked Chucko out of contention. Only Bonk, Ghoul, and some normals were left. Twilight knew that she was more powerful than either of the remaining clowns, by a wide margin. And baseball and knife wielding thugs were less than nothing to her threat-wise. Especially now that she was no longer caught off guard by their savagery. But the fact that several of the thugs turned away from the fight to launch themselves at a group of nearby civilians cinched it for her. There was always a few idiots who thought they could hang around and gawk at a brawl, and it was a huge liability. But she wouldn't let them die on her watch. She had a reputation to maintain. And no matter what she thought of her teammates, she was sure they could handle the Jokerz and their other cronies. 

Three thugs lunged at the civvies, who turned to run. Twilight flew over the lead thug and dropped from the air, her feet glowing with a sheen of white light as she dropped down. Twilight landed on the man feet first, her hardlight field crumpling him to the floor under her weight. The pain would be pretty intense and that suited her just fine. The two other thugs stumbled back in surprise as Twilight stepped off of their friend, delivering a hardlight kick to his ribs as he did. She picked up his bat and burned it to a crisp in her hand. Then she cracked her fists as they shimmered with light, a white aura wrapping around Twilight as as she stood in front of them. Twilight could have easily picked them off with some well-placed stun blasts. But she needed to work out some stress. 

Twilight crossed her arms with a smirk and said, [b]"What's the matter? You guys afraid of a girl? I thought you were the Jokerz not the Chickenz."[/b] 

Besides displaying her wit, there was a practical purpose to Twilight insulting them. There were some exceptions but most thugs were pretty dumb and easily angered. And being angry made idiots even more stupid and easy to take care of. True enough, her barb made the two thugs shout and rush headlong at her. Perfect. Twilight dropped her hands to her side, faced sideways and let them come at her. They'd learned how to fight in bar brawls and alleyway scraps. She'd learned from Wildcat. Even without powers, they wouldn't have had a chance. 

The first thug swung a bat wrapped wire at her with all of his strength. It was clumsy and slow. Twilight raised her arm in a block and let the man's bat shatter on her shielded arm. The thug winced back from the explosion of splinters and Twilight shifted her focus to the second man who lunged forward with a knife. She sidestepped the thrust, and grabbed him by the wrist twisting it as she slammed her light-shielded palm into his elbow. The man screamed as his arm broke, the knife clattering to the floor as Twilight twisted back and flipped him over her shoulder and onto the concrete, her enhanced strength sending him to the ground with a heavy thud. The thug's head slammed on the street and Twilight knew he was out for the duration. His friend had recovered by now and advanced with his fists raised, though Twilight could tell from his quick breathing and shaky stance that he was rattled. Twilight smiled, remembering her training in the ring as she raised her own fists and came to meet him. The thug rabbit punched at Twilight, but she leaned her head to the side and easily dodged the blow before her own fist lashed out. With her strength and hardlight field, he was knocked out cold. 

The whole thing had taken only a few seconds. Her teacher would have been proud. She made to see how the rest of her team was faring. Then Twilight heard a scream and she turned around, ready to pounce. She turned to find the first thug she had landed on had somehow gotten off of his feet and grabbed a girl, who for some reason hadn't learned her lesson the first time, and held a knife to her throat. Twilight grimaced. She wasn't hard enough on him the first time. She wouldn't make that mistake again. 

Twilight raised a hand to placate the thug, [b]"It's over. Put the knife down and surrender. You're just making it harder on yourself. Let her go and I'll see to it that you're treated with lenience." [/b]

The girl was sobbing as the thug backed himself up against a wall, his free hand shaking as the girl's friends cowered nearby. The knife was pressed to the girl's neck and Twilight knew she had to proceed with the utmost caution. The man was terrified, and cornered animals were often the most dangerous. 

The thug shouted, "Sh-shut up! You fuck off and let me walk!" 

Twilight shook her head, [b]"You know that's not going to happen. By now the cops have this whole place on lockdown. You're going to jail either way, but you don't have to make it worse for yourself. Let her go, and come in quietly." [/b]

The man was quiet and Twilight knew that if she had more time, she could get him to drop the knife. She had received training from some of the best negotiators the League had for exactly this kind of scenario. But she ran out of time. 

Twilight heard repeated thuds nearby and she turned to see Bonk slamming a hammer onto Fenrir. As she watched, she saw Quickling glow as he sped up, rushing for the werewolf but Chucko tripped him and he went crashing across the street. Twilight mentally cursed. Amateurs. Rushing in half-cocked. But they were her teammates. She would be damned if she'd let a fellow hero get ended by some no-name. She had to save Fenrir. But she had to save the hostage too. For the first time since the fight started, Twilight hesitated. 

The man sensed it and like a drowning man, he grabbed desperately at any chance to float, "You wanna save your friend right? Well, I can wait, but can you? Let me walk! Power down and let me walk! Or your friend dies and so does this bitch. How about that hero?" 

Twilight grimaced, trying to work out a plan as she heard Bonk hit Fenrir again and again. She didn't know how durable Fenrir was, but she had to do something. Her mind raced through the possibilities, and there was a short pause before Twilight raised her hands, her aura shimmering away, [b]"All right." [/b]

The man gasped, exhilarated that his plan paid off. Twilight locked gazes with the hostage, who was wide-eyed and shaking in terror. Twilight said, [b]"It'll be ok. Close your eyes." [/b]The hostage shut her eyes as the world whited out in a flash of light. The thug yelled, clutching at his eyes as he stumbled in temporary blindness. The hostage dropped to the ground, forgotten and Twilight erected a field to shunt her to the side to her friends while Twilight punched out with her fist. A starlight construct in the shape of her fist but the size of a person flashed into existence and slammed the man against the wall like a linebacker. He fell to the floor, out cold. 

Twilight shouted to the stumbling civvies, [b]"Get out of here! Go!"[/b] They finally took the message and left in a hurry. 

Twilight turned around to Fenrir's position. But the werewolf had somehow managed to knock out Bonk with his own hammer and stood on his own two feet, though he was bleeding and battered. Twilight was impressed. He was a tough customer. However, while Fenrir got himself out of trouble, Quickling was hurt. Her teammate was out with a knife in his shoulder. Twilight had no idea how bad the wound was, but Quickling needed medical aid immediately. 

Ghoul stood over him, grinning widely and pulling out another knife as he reached down to grasp Quickling by the hair. Twilight snarled. She didn't know Quickling very well. But he was on her team. And nobody hurt her team like that. Twilight's form flared into pure light and she launched through the air with her fists outstretched like a speeding car at Ghoul. 

Ghoul had held up his knife and made to slice Quickling's throat, but the light caught his attention and he had time to look up and freeze like a deer in the headlights before Twilight slammed into his midsection. Ghoul went flying through the air clear across the street and by pure happenstance, landed on Chucko in a clownish heap. He had certainly broken some ribs in addition to his other injuries and Chucko was even worse off. They wouldn't be back up anytime soon. 

Twilight leaned back to Quickling, her hand stretching out as a pair of starlight tweezers appeared to pluck the dagger out of his shoulder, as delicately as she could manage. Twilight knew the love that Joker and all those associated had for poisons and Twilight pressed her glowing hand to Quickling's shoulder, cauterizing and disinfecting the wound at once. Quickling barely even stirred and Twilight winced as a starlight bandage wrapped around her teammate's shoulder. He needed to get out of here. Fenrir was injured but Quickling's wounds took priority. Triage. Just like she was taught. 

She cast one last look around the battlespace. Most of the Jokerz were down with only the Dee twins and a few thugs still in the fight. If the rest of her team couldn't handle it, then they just had no business being in the superhero game. Twilight lifted Quickling for a moment before erecting a starlight stretcher beneath him. Then she took off, flying quickly but as gently as she could to not jar her teammate. In a few seconds she reached the police barricade where ambulances waited. Cops pushed the crowds back as people surged forward with camera lights flashing. 

Paramedics rushed immediately to her and Twilight said, [b]"Stab wound. Left shoulder. He's a superhuman, but it's probably poisoned. I disinfected and stopped the bleeding but you need to get him to the hospital. The poisons these guys use are no joke." [/b]

Some normals froze up in situations like this. But they were professional. One of the paramedics nodded, "Got it Twilight. I'll step on the gas." 

Twilight nodded back at the man and the medics lifted Quickling onto their own structure, Twilight releasing her constructs from existence. Quickling was tougher than her. She had to trust in the medics to take care of him. For the moment, all she could do was see to the rest of the team. She lifted off once more, flying back to the fight in a few seconds before hovering next to Fenrir, [b]"Fenrir, are you alright? Do you need medical attention?" [/b]

The werewolf looked like hell, but Twilight suspected he could keep on going. She waited for his answer as she looked to see how the others were faring.